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From the human rights crisis generated by the 2017 electoral fraud to the refugee caravan fleeing neoliberal policies and the on-going national crisis sparked by the 2009 military coup, the Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN)’s work has remained steady, strong, effective, (hard) and inspiring.

In 2018, the HSN was proud to be a major part of the international campaigning to free political prisoners in Honduras. Together with our Honduran partners and allies,

the HSN played a role in freeing 28 political prisoners from pre-trial imprisonment over the course of this year despite the difficult political, economic and social conditions under the dictatorship of the Juan Orlando Hernandez government. This campaign continues to demand the release of the remaining political prisoners. Our participation in the political prisoner campaign flows out of the HSN’s work since the fraudulent elections of 2017 as we also educate the public and elected officials on the consequences of US and Canadian support for the post-coup dictatorship.

November 2017 Election Crisis

Our in-country coordinator, Karen Spring and our US-based coordinator, Vicki Cervantes and the 30+ organizations that are part of the HSN, carried out the following (and much more) human rights and solidarity work this year:

Continued organizing around the demand that the US stop funding repression in Honduras and that the US and Canada end military/police aid and other support for a corrupt, anti-democratic regime.

Organized two trips to both Washington D.C. and Ottawa, Canada to speak with the State Department, US Congressional reps and Senators, Members of Parliament, and various NGOs and solidarity activists.

Participated and coordinated a press conference and theatrical protest action with various Canadian NGOs on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada

Accompanied the Berta Caceres’ trial in Tegucigalpa and used social media and press to share the facts of the case and the family’s exposure of the government’s refusal to investigate and prosecute the intellectual authors of the assassination of Berta.

Led international campaign actions demanding freedom of Honduran political prisoners & justice for over 35 people killed in the post electoral crisis.

Posted daily on Facebook and Twitter about urgent actions, information about refugee caravan and moment-to-moment updates about post-electoral crisis, protests, and repression.

Organized four webinars to provide information and analysis on the post-electoral crisis, political prisoners and the refugee exodus.

Provided in-country assistance to international journalists, researchers, and academics.

Coordinated and led two delegations to Honduras to provide accompaniment for communities and organizations at risk and create people to people solidarity.

Provided emergency financial support for families of victims and the injured from electoral crisis, and community leaders fleeing persecution and state-led violence.

Created and strengthened existing ties with European Honduran solidarity groups to build international support for the Honduran people.

April 2018 Delegation

The Honduran people won’t give up opposition to dictatorship and the HSN won’t ever give up supporting the demands of the Honduran social movement through solidarity efforts, in-country accompaniment, documentation, research, campaigning and educating the U.S. and Canadian population about the role of North American policies in generating the root causes of the refugee caravan and the human rights crisis in the country.

The HSN was able to do all of this work with only one paid staff member, our Honduras-based Coordinator. Your support keeps us going. Please consider donating to the HSN in 2019.

One year later – A Call to Solidarity

Honduran regime uses violence against its people – US uses violence against refugees fleeing Honduras.

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On Monday, November 26, 2018, Honduran authorities fired massive amounts of tear gas and opened fire with live bullets on a large protest march in Tegucigalpa to mark the one year anniversary of the November 2017 election fraud. At least 3 people were wounded, one of them, Geovanni Sierra, was working as a reporter for UNE-TV when he was shot. This happened one day after the US Border Patrol shot rubber bullets and quantities of tear gas across the border into Mexico at the refugees, most fleeing from Honduras, who are being held back from entering the US. Only 2 days before that incident the brother of the defacto president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez was arrested at the Miami Airport for being part of the narcotics trafficking organized crime in Honduras. These three incidents in 4 days, are just the tip of the iceberg of the crisis of US policy, and a dictatorial regime and its violence and corruption.

On November 26, 2017, Honduras went to the polls in an election that was a face off between the right wing National Party sitting president JOH (who ran for reelection unconstitutionally) and the Alianza, an alliance between the anti-coup/resistance Party LIBRE and members of the Anti-Corruption Party. But, instead of the election allowing Honduras to take a new path to restore democracy and make the country livable for the people, blatant election fraud, a new wave of repression and continuing impunity and corruption plunged the country even deeper into crisis.

That crisis began with the US backed 2009 coup, and after the 2017 election (also supported by the US), it is deeper and broader than ever before. It is this crisis that is pushing thousands of Hondurans out of their country.

As the Honduran people continue organizing, we respond with a call for solidarity to support the people fighting for change in Honduras and to support the people fighting for survival in the refugee exodus.

We demand that the US and Canada stop all support for the Honduran regime. We support the Honduran people’s demand for freedom for all the political prisoners and for justice for all the victims of the regime. We demand that the US stop the repression against the refugees, open the borders to those being pushed out of their countries and end the militarization of the border and violence against all migrants and refugees.

Honduran Migrant March — A refugee crisis caused by US Policy and US Partners

On October 12, 2018, hundreds of women, men, children, youth and the elderly decided to leave Honduras as a desperate response to survive. The massive exodus that began in the city of San Pedro Sula, reached more than 3 thousand people by the time the group crossed to Guatemala. The caravan, which is headed north to Mexico first, and to the United States as the goal- is the only alternative this people have to reach a bit of the dignity that has been taken from them. They are not alone in their journey. Various waves of Hondurans, whose numbers increase every hour, are being contained by Honduran security forces on their border with El Salvador and Guatemala.

The Honduras Solidarity Network in North America condemns any threats and acts of repression against the refugee caravan, human rights activists and journalists that accompany their journey. The conditions of violence, marginalization and exploitation in which this refugee crisis find its origins, have been created, maintained and reproduced by US-backed social, economic and military interventionist policies, with the support of its Canadian and regional allies. We call on people in the US to reject the criminalization, prosecution, detention, deportation and family separation that threaten the members of this march and the lives of all those refugees forced from their homes in the same way. We urge a change of US policy in Honduras and to cut off security aid to stop human rights abuses and government violence against Hondurans.

This refugee crisis has been exacerbated by the governments of Guatemala and Mexico, who subservient to Donald Trump’s administration, have chosen the path of repression. Bartolo Fuentes, a Honduran journalist and spokesperson for the refugees, has been detained in Guatemala. Meanwhile the Mexican government has sent two planeloads of its National Police to the border with Guatemala. Irineo Mujica, a migrant rights activist and photojournalist, was arrested in Chiapas by agents of the Mexican National Institute of Migration when he was getting ready to support the Honduran migrant march. Today (Friday) in the afternoon, tear gas was fired into the group as they tried to come into Mexico on the border bridge. Honduran human rights organizations report that a 7 month old baby was killed.

The massive forced flight of people from Honduras is not new; it is the legacy of US intervention in the country. Since the 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras, the post-coup regime has perpetuated a system based on disregard for human rights, impunity, corruption, repression and the influence of organized crime groups in the government and in the economic power elite. Since the coup, we have seen the destruction of public education and health services through privatization. The imposition of mining, hydro-electric mega-projects and the concentration of land in agro-industry has plunged 66 percent of the Honduran population into poverty and extreme poverty. In the last 9 years, we have witnessed how the murder of Berta Cáceres and many other activists, indigenous leaders, lawyers, journalists, LGBTQ community members and students has triggered a humanitarian crisis. This crisis is reflected in the internal displacement and the unprecedented exodus of the Honduran people that has caught the public’s eye during recent days.

The fraudulent November 2017 elections, in which Juan Orlando Hernández -president since questionable elections in 2013- was re-elected for a second term in violation of the Honduran constitution, sparked a national outrage. The people’s outrage was confronted by an extremely violent government campaign with military and US-trained security forces to suppress the protests against the fraud. The result of the repression was more than 30 people killed by government forces, more than a thousand arrested and there are currently 20 political prisoners being held in pre-trial prison.

To the repression, intimidation and criminalization faced by the members of the refugee caravan, we respond with a call for solidarity from all the corners of the world. In the face of the violence that has led to the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Hondurans, we demand an end to US military and security aid to Juan Orlando’s regime, not as the blackmail tool used by Donald Trump, but as a way to guarantee the protection of the human rights of the Honduran people. We demand justice for Berta Cáceres, for all the victims of political violence as a consequence of the post coup regime, and the approval of the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act H.R. 1299. We demand freedom for all the political prisoners in Honduras. We demand the US end the criminalization, imprisonment, separation, deportation and killing of migrants and refugees.

Today we fight so that every step, from Honduras to the north of the Americas, is dignified and free

Solidarity with the Honduran People on August 30th

The Honduran people refuse to give up! They continue to organize and to resist, despite the deepening authoritarianism and violence from the regime and despite the continuing support for that regime by the United States and Canada. We continue to oppose the financial and political aid from the North American governments that facilitates the violence of government forces against the people. We are aware of the August 29 press conference and declaration from the Secretary of State, Security Forces via the National Police that create a threatening atmosphere against the protest.

The Convergencia en Contra el Continuismo y Dictadura (Coalition Against the Continuation of the Dictatorship, has called for a massive mobilization in Tegucigalpa on August 30. The Convergencia is a broad coalition of human rights and social movement organizations, trade unions,and other groups opposed to the coup regime that was founded in October 2017 in opposition to the unconstitutional re-election bid by Juan Orlando Hernandez.

The mobilization has 7 demands that include justice for the victims of the November 2017 election crisis; freedom for the political prisoners; an effective fight against corruption and impunity; respect for the autonomy and rights of the indigenous and Black peoples; a new Integral Agrarian Reform; cancellation of the concessions for public natural resources; stop the attacks on the rights of the working class and that the current regime be declared unconstitutional and a process be implemented for a rapid return to constitutional order.The Convergencia and its organizations are defending the right of the people to protest and to organize.

The HSN was formed after the 2009 coup in Honduras and HSN members have been witnesses to the violations of human rights, violence and intimidations over the years. We are disturbed by the continuation and escalation of these violations such as the recent attacks on students, threats and repression against Paujiles, Azacualpa and the Garifuna communities that are all defending their lands against mega-projects.

Finally we join the Convergencia and other Honduran organization as they condemn the endless impunity that has denied justice to the victims of the 2009 coup, the assassinated indigenous, and campesino activists and the more recent victims of State violence during the post election crisis.

June 28, 2018, marks 9 years since the US backed coup d’etat in Honduras: 9 years of increasing violence and impunity, poverty and inequity for the Honduran people who made clear once again their rejection of the coup regimen in the elections held on November 26, 2017 —- election results that were overturned by fraud and repression.

The US government continues to support the Honduran regime politically and economically including millions of dollars of security/military aid that facilitates human rights violations. The Canadian government continues to support the extraction industry dominated by Canadian mining companies and other Canadian mega projects in tourism and energy industries. These projectsare responsible for environmental and health damage as well as the violent repression and displacement of indigenous communities.

A deep political crisis was triggered by widespread recognition of fraud and irregularities that allowed Juan Orlando Hernandez to declare victory in his re-election, (note: reelection is prohibited by the Honduran Constitution). The Hernandez regime met the post-election protests and rejection of fraud with massive repression, and a declared state of emergency: more than 30 people were killed most of them by the Military Police. Many hundreds were injured by army or police. All of these crimes remain in impunity with no information about any investigations. However, many protesters face ongoing legal actions against them by the government. More than 1300 were arrested during the post-election crisis. 23 people are recognized as political prisoners who are facing extremely severe charges and have been subjected to pretrial imprisonment without bail for months under terrible conditions.

Five of these political prisoners remain detained in prisons: Edwin Espinal and Raúl Álvarez in the maximum security prison La Tolva; Edy Gonzalo Valles in the maximum security prison El Pozo and Gustavo Adolfo Cáceres Ayala and José Gabriel Godinez Ávelar in the penitentiary in El Progreso. Arrests of activists continue and there will likely be more prosecutions as the regime continues the repression. We support demands by Honduran organizations to free all the prisoners and drop the politically motivated charges.

Another consequence of the crisis and US/Canadian support for dictatorship is a new upsurge in migration by Honduran men, women and children fleeing the crisis. The US government has implemented policies that violate international human rights and refugee standards, detaining thousands of migrants, refusing to accept petitions for asylum, violating due process, and infamously separating children, even infants, from their parents. Border Patrol agents use violence and live ammunition with impunity against the migrants at the border and are arresting members of humanitarian organizations attempting to give life-saving emergency care to the migrants in the desert border region. The crisis will deepen even more with the US withdrawal of temporary protected status (TPS) for Hondurans in January 2020. Some 50, 000 Hondurans who have lived legally in the US for decades, many who have US born children, will be forcibly returned to Honduras.

We demand that the US and Canadian government stop funding and supporting the regime in Honduras and end the mass deportations of refugees from Central America. We echo the Honduran people in demanding“Freedom for the Political Prisoners” and“Stop the Political Repression”.

26 political prisoners in Honduras depend on your solidarity! Detained in the context of the 2017 electoral crisis and the pro-democracy protests to denounce the electoral fraud, the majority of the political prisoners are being held in pre-trial detention in horrific conditions in maximum security, military-run prisons. All could spend up to 2.5 years in jail before being sentenced by a judge. We demand that Honduran authorities immediately release all of the political prisoners and drop all charges against them!

For recognizing, supporting, and financing the current Juan Orlando Hernandez regime, US and Canadian authorities must also be held accountable, particularly for their involvement in supporting a regime that systematically violates basic human rights and the rule of law. Canada and the US are part of the problem. With your support we can achieve freedom for long-time activist Edwin Espinal and all the other political prisoners, and ensure that the voice of resistance of the Honduran people is not silenced! Add you voice to the global day of action and demand freedom for the political prisoners in Honduras!

Demand the immediate release of EDWIN ESPINAL, and of all political prisoners in Honduras

Long-time Honduran activist Edwin Espinal has been jailed on charges related to protests against election fraud in Honduras. Due to his activism, he has been subject to State harassment, violence, and threats since the 2009 coup d’état. Immediate action is required to push for Edwin’s release and to ensure his safety.

​Long-time Honduran activist Edwin Robelo Espinal was arrested by police on January 19, on the eve of a week-long nationwide strike. Edwin faces a laundry list of trumped up charges: arson; property damage; and use of homemade explosive material. Edwin is also under State investigation for terrorism and criminal association related to damages to the Marriott Hotel, a multi-billion dollar US chain, during a January 12 protest in Tegucigalpa.

Thousands of Hondurans from all walks of life attended the January 12 action to protest the election fraud that robbed Opposition Alliance presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla of his victory in the November 26, 2017 general elections; the killings of more than 30 anti-fraud protesters and bystanders by state security forces; and the arrests of dozens of political prisoners during the ongoing post-electoral crisis. Edwin’s arbitrary arrest occurred in the context of the election fraud endorsed by the US and Canada, and designed to keep current President Juan Orlando Hernandez in power

Edwin is currently in pretrial detention. At the end of his initial hearing inside military facilities on January 22, the judge ordered pre-trial detention and sent Edwin to La Tolva, a high-security, U.S.-style prison. The prison has extremely restricted visitor access, is run by a military Coronel, and prisoners are only allowed one-hour of sunlight every two weeks amongst other horrific conditions. Although the case has been appealed by local Honduran human rights organization COFADEH, Edwin could remain in detention for two or more years waiting trial.

Edwin Espinal has been a target of state harassment for years

Edwin is an easy-going, kind man who draws young people of all ages to him. Edwin fiercely believes in organizing, supporting all forms of resistance, and solidarity with Honduran social movements and groups. He has never lost hope for change in Honduras.

Edwin’s strong and relentless conviction is what the Honduran government fears. Because of this, since the US- and Canadian-backed military coup in 2009, Edwin has been a constant target of State repression and harassment.

In 2009, Edwin’s partner, Wendy Elizabeth Avila, was killed after excessive exposure to tear gas when State forces violently evicted thousands of protesters gathered at the Brazilian Embassy to welcome ousted President Manuel Zelaya back into the country.

In 2010, Edwin was abducted and tortured by Honduran police, who were later acquitted – in the corrupted legal system – on all charges for their abuses.

One month before the fraudulent, violent 2013 elections, Honduran Military Police and canine units brought in by the Public Prosecutor’s Office illegally raided Edwin’s family’s home, claiming that he possessed drugs, money, and weapons. At the time, Edwin was involved in a community movement to stop the privatization of public soccer fields in his neighborhood used by impoverished youth with limited recreational spaces and resources.

In 2015, Edwin’s mom died in the social security hospital as a result of the $350 million dollar looting of the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) orchestrated by the National Party, in power since 2010.

Edwin has been detained more than a dozen times since 2009 and has been beaten by security forces. The most recent beating was in December 2017 when he participated in a protest against election fraud in Tegucigalpa.

As a result of this constant persecution, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted Edwin protective measures in 2010. The measures were renewed in 2013, shortly after the illegal raid on his family’s home.

Edwin’s current detention on trumped up charges is one more example of systematic political persecution and targeting of anti-fraud protesters and political opponents of the government. The illegitimate and corrupt government of Juan Orlando Hernandez is targeting its own citizens – people like Edwin – while doing nothing to investigate the hundreds of killings and arbitrary arrests by State forces of social movement activists, protesters, journalists, lawyers, etc.

The legal proceedings against Edwin have completely violated Honduran law and due process. The case is being heard in “national jurisdiction” courts that, according to the charges against Edwin, have no jurisdiction over the case. The judge presiding over the case is the same judge that ordered the raid on Edwin’s house in 2013, which, according to Honduran law, is illegal. Edwin’s legal representatives were given one day (a Sunday) to prepare his defense and he was later sent to prison to await trial, which could take years.

Immediate action is needed for Edwin’s safety and release

We demand Edwin’s immediate release, as well as that of the more than 40 political prisoners throughout the country, and that all the trumped up charges be dropped.

To ensure Edwin’s immediate safety and access to justice, we demand that Honduran authorities immediately release Edwin. But in the meantime, we demand:

§ That Edwin be transferred to a detention center as determined by COFADEH (the Committee of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras), which has provided long-term legal and human rights support for him since 2009. Edwin is currently being held in a jail run by a military officer, and the facility has extremely restricted access for visits by family, friends, and human rights groups. These visits are crucial to help guarantee his safety and well-being while detained. To date, his family and his lawyers have not been able to visit him.

§ That Edwin’s case be transferred out of the “national jurisdiction” courts and into the regular court system.

Ongoing solidarity and action is also needed

§ We urge human rights delegations, journalists, and investigators to visit Edwin and other arbitrarily detained political prisoners experiencing repression in the context of the post-electoral crisis and the imposition of the Juan Orlando Hernandez regime.

§ Financial support for Edwin’s family is needed as they seek justice and work to ensure his safety and demand his release.

§ Contact the US, Canadian and Honduran representatives. See list below for contacts and demands.

For more information about Edwin’s case and the human rights situation in the country, CONTACT:

§ Immediately drop the trumped up charges against Edwin and other political prisoners. Grant the appeal for Edwin’s case which would overturn the January 22 court decision which sent Edwin to prison to await trial.

§ Transfer Edwin to a detention center as determined by COFADEH.

§ Transfer Edwin’s case out of the “national jurisdiction” courts and into the regular court system.

§ To immediately address the issue of the political prisoners and pressure the Honduran authorities to drop all charges against Edwin and release all political prisoners immediately.

§ Insist to Honduran authorities that Edwin be transferred to a detention center as determined by COFADEH & that Edwin’s case be taken out of the “national jurisdiction” courts and heard by the regular Honduran court system.

§ Of US Congress members: to sign onto the Berta Caceres Act demanding suspension of US military aid to Honduras.

§ To immediately address the issue of the political prisoners and pressure the Honduran authorities to drop all charges against Edwin and release all political prisoners immediately

§ Insist to Honduran authorities that Edwin be transferred to a detention center as determined by COFADEH & that Edwin’s case be taken out of the “national jurisdiction” courts and heard by the regular Honduran court system

The Honduran people have declared a national civic strike, demanding that Juan Orlando Hernandez give up his fraudulent claim to have won the elections in November and to stop his inauguration on January 27.

More than 35 people have been killed by military and police since the November 26th election. Hundreds have been injured and hundreds arrested.